Celebrity Boxing creator Damon Feldman has been on a publicity tour in recent months touting his new book, a memoir of his career organizing bouts between washed-up celebrities that touched on his own battles with depression.
But Feldman left one key part out: he spent nearly 14 months in a state correctional institution for simple assault after breaking an ex-girlfriend’s nose.
The ex-girlfriend said she came forward and decided to sue Feldman for damages in part after seeing him promote his new memoir, “The 16 Minute Man,” without acknowledging or mentioning his October 2016 arrest or time in prison.
“It’s been very hard to see all this in the paper and to know the truth. He doesn’t have a history of depression, he was in jail for 14 months for beating me up,” said the woman, 45, who asked not to be identified due to privacy concerns. “I was going to let things go and I realized I can’t.”
Court records show Feldman pled guilty in May 2017 to the October 2016 assault on his ex-girlfriend in Chester County. She said he punched her in the face, breaking her nose, after an argument arose one night. She called 911. Feldman left the house, but later returned while police were on the scene and was taken into custody, she said. He served 13-and-a-half months at George W. Hill Correctional Facility.
“I’m sorry to her from the bottom of my heart,” Feldman said on Wednesday of the incident, who said he had a severe drinking problem at the time. “I’m sorry to all the women that I’m friends with and business associates with. … It’s not something that ever happened before in my life, it never will again. I was suffering. My dad was dying from Alzheimer’s, I was drinking and I was depressed. … I’m terribly sorry, this isn’t me.”
Feldman’s ex-girlfriend claims the attack he was arrested for was the third and worst time Feldman hit her over their yearlong relationship, and required three reconstructive facial surgeries. Feldman had previously punched her once at their apartment, and once in July while they were in Center City, she claimed. She shared medical records from her hospital visits in July and October, as well as text messages from Feldman apologizing for the incident.
He declined to comment on the specifics of the night he was arrested. “I hit her, but I don’t remember what happened that night, I was that f—-ed up,” he said. “It’s sickening that I was ever involved with this. My mom was a quadriplegic in a wheelchair from being beaten up [by an ex-boyfriend]. … It was a bad time in my life.”
Priscilla Jimenez of Kline & Specter, P.C., confirmed the firm is working with this woman and said the “suit will be filed shortly.”
“My story needs to be told,” said Feldman’s ex-girlfriend, who now hopes to start a nonprofit providing cosmetic, dental and other medical surgeries to other abuse victims. “If I can help anyone to feel they can come forward, I want to help them. You can feel trapped. I know, because I was manipulated for over a year. … I finally feel that I’ve come to the point where I can talk about it and help other people.”
